The X Factor (Ryanland)
The X Factor is a reality television singing competition created by Simon Cowell and produced by Cleverbest Television and MashUp Productions. It began airing on CTV on September 2010 as an addition to the The X Factor ''franchise based on the original UK show. The concept of the series is to find new singing talent (solo or groups) where the winner is determined by the viewers through telephone, Internet, and SMS text voting and receives a $5 million recording contract with E Records. There have been two winners of the show to date: Brittany Lovele and Sasha Coyen. The series employs a panel of judges who critique the contestants' performances. Each judge is assigned one of four categories; the criteria for each has varied between seasons. Throughout the live shows, the judges act as mentors to their category, helping to decide song choices, styling, and staging, while judging contestants from the other categories. They also compete to ensure that their act wins the competition, thus making them the winning judge. The original judges were Newton, Jessica Smith, Amanda Fyne and Josh Stowne, however Fyne and Stowne left the series following the second season, and replacement judges are being selected. Laurie Evans has been the host of the series for two seasons, and will continue her role into season 3. On October 25, 2012, CTV confirmed that the show would return for a third season. Both Newton and Smith have been confirmed as judges for season 3. On December 20, 2012, it was announced that Stowne would also not be returning for season three, but with no public reason. American recording artist, Bruno Mars was announced as Stowne's replacement. On December 4, 2013, ''The X Factor was renewed for a further two seasons, keeping the show on the air until at least 2015. History Although Ryanland had not had a successful singing competition since RTN's Pop Stars that ran from 1997 to 2005, in June 2009 it was speculated that Paul Newton was to bring The X Factor to Ryanland, but with no information on judges, prizes or the official network. Just under a year later in May 2010, it was announced that CTV had become the official network and would hopefully begin airing the series by September 2011. From May 2010 to April 2011, the other three judges were announced were Jessica Smith (popular singer in Ryanland), Amanda Fyne (singer and television personality) and Josh Stowne (former member of the group, 5 STAR). Laurie Evans was also announced as the host of the show. Then, in May 2011, it was announced that The X Factor would premiere on October 24, 2011, after Ryanland's Got Talent ended it's very short run on Mondays. CTV has a large concentration of Reality series on Monday nights (Ryanland's Got Talent, Dance Off, The Bachelor and The Bachelorette) which all had to be shortened (excluding Dance Off) to incorporate The X Factor's long episode run. The series premiered on Monday, October 24, 2011 to a record 22.81 million viewers and a 10.9 rating in the 18-49 demographic. This number has never been beaten. Format and prize The show is primarily concerned with identifying singing talent, though appearance, personality, stage presence and dance routines are also an important element of many performances. Each judge is assigned one of four categories. These groups are: girls between 16 and 27, boys between 16 and 27, individuals 28 and over, and groups. For both seasons, some groups were formed from soloists and other groups rejected after the audition process. Through the live shows, the judges act as mentors to their category, helping to decide song choices, styling and staging, while judging contestants from other categories. The winner of the competition is awarded a recording contract with E Records in association, which would include cash payments totaling $5 million. There are five stages to The X Factor: *Stage 1: Producers' auditions (these auditions decide who will sing in front of the judges) *Stage 2: Judges' auditions *Stage 3: Boot camp *Stage 4: Judges' houses *Stage 5: Live shows (finals) 'Auditions' The show is open to solo artists and vocal groups aged 16 and above, with no upper age limit. The successful auditionees audition in front of the judges where the judges must come to a majority vote to allow the auditionee to proceed to the next round, in this case, at least three judges have to say yes for the hopeful to go to boot camp. 'Bootcamp and judges' houses' The contestants selected at auditions are further refined through a series of performances at "bootcamp", and then at "judges' houses", until a small number eventually progress to the live finals. At bootcamp the judges collaboratively choose either 32 acts (season 1; eight from each category) or 24 acts (season 2; six from each category) for the next round, and only then are told by the show's producers which category they are to mentor. The judges then disband for the "judges' houses" round, where they further reduce their acts on location at a residence (often collectively spanning the globe) with the help of a celebrity guest. 'Live shows' 'Final 16' The final 16 perform live, to get a place in the final 12. There will be no public vote in the first week - each of the judges instead select one of their own acts to eliminate. This was used in season one only, and possibly in the future. 'Final 12' The finals consist of a series of two live shows, with the first featuring the contestants' performances and the second revealing the results of the public voting, culminating in either one or two acts being eliminated. The two contestants with the lowest number of votes sing in a final challenge on which the judges vote to determine who is eliminated. This continues until the final four contestants, when America's votes determine all eliminations. Celebrity guest performers also feature regularly in the results shows. In season two and three, there were wildcard entries, in which Drew Philips won in two and Sam White won in three, therefore there was 13 contestants. Series overview To date, nine series have been broadcast, as summarised below. * Contestant in (or mentor of) "Boys" category * Contestant in (or mentor of) "Girls" category * Contestant in (or mentor of) "Over 25s" or "Over 28s" category * Contestant in (or mentor of) "Groups" category Judges and hosts At the time of announcing the Ryanland version of The X Factor, Newton was the only confirmed judge for the show. He later said that he was taking the choices of who to join him on the show very seriously, saying, "It's pointless hiring judges who don't know anything about the music business" Many judges were rumored to be in the running, but in the end Ryanland popular singer, Jessica Smith; singer, Amanda Fyne and Josh Stowne (former member of 5STAR) were announced as the judges joining Paul Newton. Later, Laurie Evans was announced to be the host of the series. These judges and host remained the same for season 2. Following the quarter-finals night, Amanda Fyne announced that she would not return for season 3 of the'' The X Factor'', stating she wanted to work on her television career and spend more time with her family. The public thought maybe she would change her mind once James Murstead, her last remaining act, became the runner-up, but this did not change the decision. Following the finale, the show sparked critizism when it was announced that Josh Stowne was also not going to return for season 3, and that Newton himself had fired him. A statement from Stowne said, "Newton wants to go in a different direction, and I went on it". Newton has been confirmed to return for season 3 and Jessica Smith has also been confirmed, the search for the two replacement judges has begun. However, on January 29, 2013, it was announced that Amanda Fyne was in fact returning to the series for it's third season, and the replacement judge for Stowne will be American-recording artist Bruno Mars. 'Judges' categories and their finalists' Key: : – Winning judge/category. Winners are in bold, eliminated contestants in small font.